Category: Legal Ethics

“I do solemnly swear/affirm that I will at all times demean myself fairly and honorably as an attorney and practitioner at law” – from the Maryland Attorney’s Oath. I don’t endorse this attorney. I don’t know him, and if this piece of blaxploitation video production is his advertising, I will take pleasure in the fact

If you work as an attorney, you might know American Registry. You know Pat Barnes, the pseudonym or real name of some sales rep there who spams you for, you know, the heck of it. American Registry will sell you a plaque congratulating you for having passed the bar 15 or 20 years ago and

Among the cardinal virtues promoted in Greek antiquity and classical Christianity are fortitude, prudence, temperance and justice. Prudence (originally, providentia, contracted to prudentia) is the wisdom and discipline to apply principles appropriately, reasonably and in proportion. Latin Christianity derived these terms from Plato through Cicero and the early Fathers of the Church; the English terms

The Maryland State Bar Association’s Bar Journal is always a worthy read but there are particular articles worth reading for many solo attorneys in the most recent issue. Preeminent attorney discipline attorney Alvin Frederick, Esquire, of Eccleston & Wolf and Associate Bar Counsel James Gaither, Esquire, provided an article on online professional ethics and cybersecurity,

I have mixed feelings about Avvo.com. On the one hand, it has challenged the long-time attorney ratings monopoly of Martindale-Hubbell. While lawyers can “rig” an Avvo rating, lawyers can also “rig” a Martindale rating to some extent. Competition is healthy, even in semi-rigged BS ratings systems. Hell, even Maury Povich has to take some maurylogical

The rule of honesty for attorneys needs to be The Rule in Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Case. If a casual acquaintance, seeking to buy a dress or suit, asks whether the dress or suit makes the buyer’s derriere appear more plump, the superficially polite response of the observer might be a less than candid “well, I don’t

Washington Times, August 25, 2013: “We understand how George [Zimmerman] visiting the factory that produces the gun used to shoot Trayvon Martin is seen as inappropriate,” a spokesman for attorney Mark O’Mara told Reuters on Friday. *** Mr. Zimmerman, 29, shot Trayvon, who was 17, in the heart with a 9 mm Kel-Tec pistol. Recent

I pity “Pat Barnes”. He or she is a representative of a company that wants to sell me, an 18-year member of the Maryland Bar, a plaque commemorating my 15th year of membership in the Maryland Bar. And be darned if she or he isn’t persistent: I have gotten maybe half a dozen of these

Among my lesser faults (many others are much worse) is a propensity towards foul language, one that I do restrain with clients and in court, but one that I tend not to restrain as much on the phone with friends and peers in personal conversations. It is a regrettable fault, though it’s easier on the

In the United States, contingent fees for attorneys are regulated and usually prohibited in most criminal and family law matters. Among the justifications for contingent fees are that they reward success, not attorney billable-hour churning. In today’s New York Times Adam Liptak discussed Marek v. Lane, a class action case against Facebook involving privacy violations.